Digital Immigrant or Digital Native

I am definitely a digital immigrant at work, but I feel that considering my age, I do a decent job of trying to embrace and use technology. I laughed out loud when the article mentioned teachers that print out emails because we have several teachers in my building that do that. I do still print out papers to edit and to read because I find this easier than working or reading long articles on the computer. My grandson can already use my phone to take pictures and he is only 14 months old. I can only imagine what he will be capable of doing as he grows up in this age of smart phones, tablets, and advanced computer systems. I try to teach my students how to use technology so that they will be ready for the technology world they will be working in, but I also teach them basic skills and how to survive without technology. IWhenever I teach them about maps, I always remind them that they will still need this skill in the future for days when their GPS might not work. I also still teach spelling through phonics because they will have to simply write things the old-fashioned way at times. One thing that I woudl like to fit into my schedule is keyboarding. I feel this would be a very useful skill in our technology world

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Comment by Lynn Wynn on January 10, 2012 at 11:44am: Teresa,

I so commiserate with you! I, too, have "immigrant" status, but am willing to try lots of new things. I think there are immigrants who want to jump in and use technology, and immigrants who want to hold onto the "old way" of doing things. I'm the librarian at a K-5 elementary school, and have been using a keyboarding program with the 3-5 graders, but am finding that the students have a "gaming" mentality when it comes to typing. They're more interested in completing the levels as quickly as possible rather than actually learning touch typing methods. The "techie" in me thinks the typing will all be done for them by voice sooner than later anyway...but I think 4th grade is the perfect age to start them keyboarding. I found third grade had a lot more difficulty with it than I expected.

Comment by Brad Niessen on January 17, 2012 at 9:11pm: Teresa - I caught my wife doing this the other day...printing out documets just so she could hold them and read them ; )